Last month we told you that Marvel Studios were prepping to build sets at the massive Grumman Studios in Long Island this month, and were planning to use all 160,000 square feet of the 30-acre complexes seven stages for the production of director Joss Whedon‘s (Serenity, Firefly) forthcoming superhero team-up film, The Avengers.

Now, Marvel Studios is reportedly turning the film into a “figurative” West Coast Avengers by moving all of the New York production to Los Angeles in order to save money. Bleeding Cool is reporting that the time spent in New York will be mostly for exterior establishing shots, with the vast majority of principal photography taking place on sound stages in and around Southern California.

The move is said to not only reduce the cost of having to shoot on location in New York, but also reduce the cost of having to transport and house the big name cast in New York during the shoot, as most of The Avengers live in the Los Angeles area.

The film stars Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Clark Gregg (Phil Coulson), Mark Ruffalo (The Hulk) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye).

The Avengers is slated to hit theaters on May 4th, 2012.